


and if we are together (oh, we're going far)

by windowbedsthebest



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 06:23:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9807077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windowbedsthebest/pseuds/windowbedsthebest
Summary: An AU.(Of a pairing I’ve never written, books I’ve never read, and movies I’ve never watched.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> so this is a percy jackson au. for allie and renee.
> 
> some context stuff that might help:  
> alex (and abby) are daughters of zeus. kelley is the daughter of poseidon. zeus and poseidon have some mad beef.
> 
> and this isn’t very clear in the first scene, but it opens with alex in the hospital after abby dies in a quest they go on together. sorry abby. #forgetme

It all hurts. 

 

It hurts in the bruises that paint her hip, in the deep gash decorating the skin above her left eyebrow, in the twisted roll of her left ankle, in the soreness of both of her arms. 

 

It hurts a lot more, though, in the places people can’t see. Like her mind. Her lungs. 

 

Her heart. 

 

Actions as simple as opening her eyes seem too hard. Because opening her eyes means facing the rest of the world without the one person who was left of what she called her family. 

 

The anger comes first, the  _ How the hell do you expect me to do any of this without you, Abs?  _

 

The sadness comes shortly after, the  _ I miss you already. And I’ll make you proud. I swear on it.  _

 

Her cheeks burn and her lip quivers as the tears challenge the back of her eyelids, and she’s about tear her tall walls down when, 

 

“Alex. I need you to relax as I take your blood pressure.” 

 

Her exhale is shaky as she lets her muscles go limp, and her jaw tightens as the cold material is wrapped tightly around her arm. She musters up the decency to suppress a scoff when her nurse mutters something along the lines of, “Everything’s going to be fine.” 

 

+

 

Nothing feels fine. 

 

Alex staggers into lunch the next day, and everyone looks at her like she’s broken. And frankly, she is, but she doesn’t need people reminding her. 

 

She grips onto the edges of her tray as she wordlessly plops down in her usual seat between Tobin and Sydney, across from Cheney, Amy, and Allie.

 

She lets out a grateful breath when none of them act as though she’ll crumble into pieces if they say the wrong thing, cracking her first real smile since the quest when Tobin lightly teases her about the thick band-aid occupying a decent portion of her forehead.

 

“You playing tonight?” Cheney asks, and Alex knows it’s a genuine question that doesn’t mean any harm, but she lets it rub her the wrong way, and,

 

“Yeah, of course I am. No reason I wouldn’t.” Cheney isn’t fazed and continues to eat her food, but Alex slumps her shoulders. “Sorry.” Her voice loses its edge. “But yeah. I want to.”

 

“Tobs and A-Rod got ahold of the matchups,” Sydney diffuses, scraping her spoon against the bottom of her bowl to swipe up any soup left, and through her peripherals, Alex finds Tobin nodding with her mouth full on her right.

 

Amy leans over the table. “You got Hades, Mr. D, Apollo, Hypnos, Hephaestus, and Demeter cabins. So Tobs and I will try going easy on you,” her voice is playful as a smirk finds her lips, and Alex utters a half-empty laugh in return. 

 

Because she knows they’re trying. They’re all trying, and she is, too, but everything’s hard. Even the things that aren’t supposed to be hard. Like breathing. 

 

But pretending she’s holding it altogether is taking a lot out of her, and suddenly she’s not hungry, then her mouth feels dry, then  —

 

“Al, you good?” Sydney’s eyebrows dip down into curves, and Alex wipes the palms of her hands on her sweats, mustering an artificial smile.

 

“Uh-huh, I’m just  — thinking of how hard I should kick your guys’ asses tonight,” she recovers, and Tobin and Amy immediately voice their protests while Sydney, Allie, and Cheney laugh off their approval.

 

And for the shortest of moments, everything seems normal.

 

+

 

She’s waiting in line to throw out her trash after lunch when the person in front of her is taking an extra long time hovering in front of the garbage can, and Alex stares intently at the back of their head, straining her vision to identify who they are, until they let out a booming laugh in response to one of the maintenance members beginning to sweep the floors.

 

“What’s taking her so long?” Alex leans backwards to mutter the words within Sydney’s earshot, but when she finds herself eye-to-eye with an amused Kelley O’Hara, she discerns that maybe her voice reached a lot more than Sydney’s ears.

 

“Sorry, Morgan.” Her voice falls flat, and the grin that was on her face gradually dissipates. Then her eyes flicker to Alex’s bandage, and they linger until she gets this look on this face like she suddenly remembered something, and she shuffles away with a subdued look.

 

Alex huffs with a shake of the head and she dumps her leftover food out, reinforcing her routine of phasing out the pity looks people shoot her way as she makes a beeline to the sinks to dispose of her dishes.

 

She’s pushing the doors open to get back outside when Tobin and Cheney shuffle up behind her. “Guys, I think I’m just gonna hang out in my cabin until the game — “

 

“No, yeah, that’s fine. We just… wanted to give you something,” Cheney bumps Tobin’s arm, and Tobin goes to retrieve something from one the deep pockets of her sweats. 

 

Seconds later she’s tugging out a beaded necklace with a cross on the bottom. “It’s a rosary,” she shrugs, outstretching her hand. Alex eyes it for a moment longer than necessary before slowly grasping it between her fingers. “I know you’re not big on God, but — he’s helped us a lot, and we know things are hard right now, so we want him to help you, too.”

 

Cheney nods enthusiastically next to her, and they both look so exuberant to share it with her, she can’t bring herself to simply dismiss it. “Wow, this — …. Wow. Thank you guys.” She halts her walking to engulf them both in warm hugs, and when Cheney rubs softly at her back the way Abby used to whenever Alex had an off-day of training, Alex nearly has to pry herself out of her friend’s grip. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

 

They bid her goodbye with one last wave before stalking off, and when Alex gets back to her cabin, her gift gets mindlessly tossed in the pile of miscellaneous objects on top of her dresser. 

 

+

 

She’s one of the last players to the forest, tightening the neat ponytail on her head before her fingers flit to the sharpened knife held steady by the belt around her waist. Abby’s favorite one. Or — she guesses it  _ used  _ to be Abby’s favorite. But Abby was the strongest person she knew, so Alex figured it can snag her a W tonight.

 

“Hey, you,” Sydney’s got a solid grip on her spear as Alex walks up next to her to stretch, bending her leg at the knee and reaching behind her back to grab her foot and hold it there. She uses her free hand to grasp Sydney’s shoulder for balance. “You ready?”

 

Alex nods silently, closely observing their competition on the far side of the forest. The naturally athletic Hermes girls are as loose as ever, undoubtedly cracking jokes and drawing smiles from some of the younger faces while everyone takes extra preparations, including Kelley, who Alex spots wiping strips of mud under her eyes to look more intimidating. She doesn’t bother to swallow down the groan making its way up her throat.

 

“Don’t kill her tonight, ok?” Sydney follows Alex’s line of vision. “Nearly stabbed her  _ bad _ last week, you’d be in so much shit if anything happened.”

 

“She was in my way,” Alex mutters in defense, rolling her neck as she adjusts her armor. “She’s  _ always  _ in my way.”

 

The team gathers into a circle and Cheney talks strategy, taking over Alex’s usual job since she was in the infirmary for a majority of the week.

 

Kling and Allie act as the guards with Cheney and Morgan lingering on the defensive end while the rest of the team makes up the offense.

 

“Alright, everyone, gather up,” Christie claps sharply, making her way to the center of the battlefield between both teams. “Before the match begins, I just wanted to hold a few moments of silence in honor of Abby, who, as most of you know, unfortunately passed away a few days ago on a quest with her sister, Alex, who returned to camp today. Alex, we admire your strength and bravery, and we want you to know, we’re all here for you if you need us.”

 

Alex, unprepared for every single pair of eyes to shoot in her direction, suddenly feels small, and she nods her head lamely as everyone falls silent.

 

The air is quiet, but the silence is loud, and Alex is itching for it all to end when Christie calls it, and she drags her fingers down her cheeks to get into her zone, her mind suddenly foggy with the abrupt mention of Abby before the game.

 

Every second that’s passed since lunch, she’s been trying so hard to push it all out of her mind, and now it’s coming back in floods.

 

She forgets it all when she sees Kelley resuming her usual position on offense today, blowing onto the tip of her knife, and Alex scoffs at the cocky mannerism before Christie blows the whistle to commemorate the start of the match.

 

Per usual, it’s chaotic and aggressive, and Alex is quick to hurtle forward, dodging quickly past slashing swords and bodies to get a look at where the other team’s flag is. She grunts as she roughly fights off Ashlyn, able to knock her off balance with a sharp elbow before advancing forward. 

 

She gets a harmless cut on her forearm when she’s a second too slow leaping out of Ali’s range of motion, wincing just slightly when she catches sight of the flag hanging from one of the shorter trees.

 

She gets caught in a rough collision when Becky blocks her path, attempting to slash her when Alex protects her face by catching the blade with her own knife.

 

The combat goes on for awhile, Alex only walking away with a few bruises that’ll greet her brutally the next morning. She’s gasping for breath when she catches Kristie in her peripherals. “Right up there!” she guides loudly, and Kristie shoots her a quick nod before Alex is slow to get back to her feet, regaining her balance when she’s shoved harshly against a tree trunk.  _ “Fuck!” _

 

None other than Kelley O’Hara turns out to be the instigator, a deep cut already irritating her bottom lip. “Not tonight, Morgan,” she says with a bite, and Alex’s jaw tightens. “You are  _ not _ getting it tonight.”

 

Alex strains to push Kelley’s knife away from her neck with her own. “Get the hell off me.” Her back is screaming with pain, rubbing against the roughness of the tree bark. She kicks sharply at Kelley’s thigh, earning a pained yell and using it as her escape, only to be tripped back down to the ground.

 

Kelley’s grip is strong as she attempts to pin her down, and Alex’s anger elevates. She takes a fist to Kelley’s stomach, not waiting for her to finish toppling over when she sneaks out from underneath her and continues her route to the flag.

 

It’s within three arm lengths away when a familiar voice belonging to Heather calls out from the opposite end of the forest,  _ “I got it! I got it!”  _ and she springs into defensive mode, sprinting and sprinting towards her team’s half of the battlefield until her lungs burn to try and catch Heather before she reaches the river. 

 

Even after covering what feels like miles of land, she’s too late, and she’s forced to catch her breath again by clasping her hands together behind her head as Heather holds the flag victoriously above her head, her teammates hugging her into a dogpile. 

 

Her temper’s intact until she spots Kelley pumping her fist in the air, and she chucks her knife to the ground before stomping her way out of the forest.

 

+

 

She finds herself in one of the common bathroom areas, sulking her head until she reaches the sink furthest from the door. She raises her head slowly, nearly gaping at how unrecognizable she looks in the mirror. Dirt and mud cover every inch of her face, and patches of cuts and blood pepper her skin. 

 

She feels the pain and aftermath of the loss, physical and mental, all at once, and it isn’t until she hears her own whimpers that she realizes Capture the Flag isn’t the only loss she’s feeling.

 

It hurts too much to stop, so she doesn’t.

 

The cries get harder, and they get louder, and she curses as she can’t clamp a hand over her mouth to suppress it all because they’re both covered in dirt.

 

So she bites on the inside of her cheek, watching her tears drip onto the edge of her sink. And it stays that way until she starts to hiccup, mouthing something along the lines of  _ Abby, come back. _

 

Voices start to increase in volume outside, and she doesn’t have time to barge into one of the empty stalls when the door swings open.

 

Alex’s head whips in the direction of the wall, away from the line of sight of whoever just walked in. 

 

“Oh, shit.” The voice she could go the rest of her life without hearing echoes in the air, and Alex nearly starts fuming again, her knuckles turning white as she grips more tightly onto the sink. “Morgan, um — You good? Or — “

 

“Get the  _ hell _ out of here.” Alex shuts her eyes when her voice cracks, and she doesn’t have to open them to know Kelley takes a cautious step closer.

 

“Look, I’m — sorry.”

 

“No you aren’t,” Alex mutters, her voice bitter and dead. She cranes her neck and looks at Kelley with bloodshot eyes, and Kelley’s jaw goes slack before she recovers quickly. “You know you aren’t.”

 

“I’m not apologizing for the match,” Kelley bites, the layer of asshole suddenly reapplied to her complexion. Then she resigns, then her eyes almost soften. Again. “I’m — I’m sorry about — you know, I’m sorry about Abby.”

 

Alex glares at her. “Do  _ not  _ say her name,” she belittles. “You have  _ no right _ to bring her up. I told you to get out.”

 

“Dude, listen,” Kelley doesn’t make any notions to move closer, but her voice almost contorts into a plead. “You just lost your sister. I’m an asshole, but I’m also a decent human being. With morals, believe it or not. And I’m sorry.” 

 

When Alex doesn’t respond, Kelley sighs loudly before digging for something on the back of her belt. “You left this,” she tosses Abby’s knife onto the counter, the one Alex had thrown to the ground before she stormed out of the forest. “I was gonna give it to one of your friends because frankly, I didn’t plan for…. whatever  _ this _ is.” She leaves the bathroom without another word, and Alex releases the tension from all the muscles in her body. After a few minutes, she takes the knife in her hands, twirling it slowly.

 

“Sorry I couldn’t bring it home for you tonight, Abs.”

 

+

 

She wakes up the following afternoon with a sore everything. 

 

Then she decides the sun is shining too bright, and she hides back under the covers until she hears the click of her cabin door unlocking. 

 

“Yo,” Tobin calls out, undoubtedly Sydney’s heavy feet following close behind, and Alex silently cusses to herself for ever letting them know where she keeps the spare key outside. “Shit, I think she’s sleeping,” Tobin attempts to lower her voice, but she’s never been good at whispering, and neither has Sydney because Alex hears her loud and clear when, 

 

“Does she know how to clean this place up a little bit?”

 

“Go away,” Alex deadpans, groaning when she feels the mattress dip down by her feet. 

 

“Got you some Advil,” Tobin ignores the request, and Alex peeks the top of her head out from the sheets. “You seemed pretty beat up last night, so we thought this might help.”

 

“I was fine,” Alex mumbles, straining to sit upright before taking them along with the bottle of water from Tobin’s outstretched palms. “But thanks.”

 

“Where’d you go? After the match?” Sydney steps over wrinkled t-shirts and sweats to take a seat at Alex’s desk chair. 

 

Alex stalls and takes an unnecessary swig of her water. “I just....came back here. Felt maxed out,” she lies. And the answer seems to be good enough, because Tobin and Sydney drop the subject with identical nods. 

 

When they start rattling about whether or not the tape wrapped around Tobin’s wrists makes her look like a badass or not, Alex takes it as her cue to sink back under her covers. 

 

+

 

As if God hadn’t continually disproved himself multiple times over the course of the last week, Alex finds herself going up for seconds at lunch the same time as Kelley.

 

The freckled girl doesn’t care to acknowledge her, swiping a new plate from the stack before scooping up a spoonful of food from each food group.

 

Alex’s mind has been in a constant state of scatter since her last quest with Abby, and it reminds her of the fact when, “Hey. O’Hara.”

 

Kelley has enough broccoli on her plate to feed a tiny village, but she scoops up the last of what’s left in the tray. To be an asshole. 

 

“The bathroom last night,” Alex continues, her voice thin. “I’m — sorry. For being a bitch.”

 

“I get it. Whatever,” Kelley mutters. “I’ve lost people, too. It sucks.”

 

“Yeah, it does,” Alex says quietly. She doesn’t realize she’s been following Kelley to the end of the buffet table without getting any food. She wrings her plate in her hands. “Look, just — hold up.”

 

Kelley raises an impatient eyebrow.

 

“I don’t — I don’t like you. You don’t like me. Last night didn’t change that. But — thanks.”

 

Kelley’s face is unreadable. “You don’t have to like someone to treat them like a person,” she says flatly. Then her features almost soften. Keyword: almost. “But you’re welcome.”

 

+

 

There’s a campfire that night, and per usual, Alex uses it to decompress.

 

Nights like these no one’s a demigod. No one’s a warrior or a fighter. They’re just kids.

 

For the first time all week, the tension in her muscles are at ease, and she laughs at the way Tobin, Heather, and Amy talk loudly over each other as they attempt to tell everyone a humorous anecdote. —  _ Let me say the punchline this time!  _ —  _ No, you  _ always  _ get to say it! _

 

And it makes her smile because maybe she was wrong in the infirmary the other day. 

 

Abby’s gone, but she still has a family.

 

+

 

Sunday drags on slowly, marked mainly by 2v2 soccer tennis at the volleyball courts with Sydney, Ali, and Mana and hanging out by the lake with Cheney, Tobin, and Sydney.

 

Alex wakes up early Monday morning, and her first training session scheduled is at the rock walls.

 

Allie’s paired as her belayer, and they find themselves assigned to the trail wedged between Becky & Crystal and Kelley & Julie.

 

“Don’t choke today, yeah?” Kelley’s voice is stern as they both chalk up their hands. “Would hate to smoke your ass again.”

 

“Figured you’re used to being on the short end of things, you might as well have  _ one _ thing that convinces you you’re actually worth something.”

 

“Wait a second, who won Capture the Flag last Friday?” Kelley plays dumb —  _ not very well _ , in Alex’s opinion. “It’s been so long I can’t remember.” She flicks some chalk dust in Alex’s direction, and it’s enough to piss Alex off for the rest of the day.

 

She edges Kelley out to the top of the rock wall by 1.8 seconds.

 

+

 

“You’re letting her get to you again,” Heather tells her during lunch. Alex forks angrily through her fruit.

 

“Don’t kill your cantaloupe,” Tobin mumbles, an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, and Alex shoots her a tight look.

 

“No, I’m not. She just —  _ fuck _ , she’s so full of it.” Her eyes lift to a few tables away, where the source of her frustrations is an engaged conversation with Christen and Morgan. “She doesn’t treat anyone else the same way she treats me.”

 

“She doesn’t get a rise out of anyone else the same way she does out of you,” Allie reasons, and Alex drops her fork so it clanks loudly against her plate.

 

“You guys supposed to be on my side, why are you making me feel like I’m the one at fault?”

 

Tobin’s usually-uninvolved self just continues to chew loudly on her pasta, but the rest of the girls silence.

 

“You’re one of the strongest people I’ve been lucky enough to know,” Cheney’s the one to speak up. “I just hate seeing how upset you let her make you.”

 

“Yeah, well, if she didn’t treat me like a pile of shit maybe I wouldn’t be so upset,” Alex says, her tone vacant, and she shakes her head deliberately before moving to a different table.

 

+

 

They all make up after sparring practice, and everything’s fine. Alex is fine. In a rare occurrence, she doesn’t see much of Kelley after lunch, so her temper subdues.

 

+

 

The contentedness is proved to be temporary when she gets summoned to a mini-quest with, of course, the freckled instigator the next morning.

 

They leave an empty seat between them on the train into the city.

 

Kelley’s arms are folded over her chest as she smacks her gum, and Alex rolls her eyes so hard they reach the back of her head. She figures she should inform her at least  _ a little  _ about what they’re getting themselves into.

 

“It’s a manticore,” she says. Kelley slowly turns to face her. “We have to kill a manticore.”

 

Kelley nods indifferently. “Anything else I should now?”

 

Alex shrugs. “He’s just been lingering around the area for awhile.”

 

Kelley nods again, concluding the conversation.

 

+

 

They’ve been off the train for nearly ten minutes when the beast flies into view, getting straight to the point by attempting to scratch at Kelley’s face.

 

_ “Shit,”  _ she bends so far back to the point Alex has to steady her by her arm. “The dude wastes no time. Ok. That’s fine. I stretched before I left my cabin.” She pulls her knife out and twirls it in her hand. Alex does the same. Minus the weird twirl thing.

 

Then they get to work. 

 

The manticore’s quick, outstretching its mouth so the sharp tips of its teeth are inches away from biting Alex’s head off, and she grimaces before sneaking around it, away from, well, decapitation length.

 

Her eyes widen as it nearly crushes Kelley into the ground, sinking her knife in its side so Kelley can wiggle from underneath it.

 

The manticore isn’t phased, rather growling loudly in Alex’s face and scratching deeply into her abdomen.

 

Alex yelps in pain, and Kelley’s breaths get shorter in panic.

 

She jumps in immediately, shooting Alex an alarmed look before Alex has to recollect herself on the street, exhaling heavily through her nose.

 

Kelley exhibits her combat skills, going back and forth with the creature for a while and using her knife as her main source of protection until Alex comes to her defense, karate-kicking the manticore in the stomach.

 

She grunts slightly at the impact, watching it as it tumbles slightly. Then she pulls up the collar of her shirt to wipe a heavy bead of sweat dripping from her eyebrow. “I’m gonna let him at me.”

 

Kelley’s jaw slackens. “What?”

 

“Trust me,” Alex says evenly, and Kelley shakes her head.

 

“You’re fucking whack, dude, no way.”

 

_ “Trust me,”  _ Alex flares. Then Kelley swallows deeply as she attempts to catch her breath and Alex motions the monster over.

 

It slams her roughly to the pavement in a matter of seconds, and she yelps in pain before managing to bury her knife in its chest, and it immediately begins to go limp when Kelley uses her entire body weight to push it off Alex so it doesn’t crush her on its way down.

 

Kelley dashes over to check for any signs of life, and when she doesn’t find any, she’s quick to Alex’s side, her hands awkwardly lingering in the air as if she’s not allowed to touch her. “Hey, you good?”

 

Alex doesn’t respond. Her cheeks begin to burn as she drops her knife to the ground beside her. Then she covers her face with her hands. She shakes her head. “My first quest without her.”

 

Kelley rubs at the back of her own neck. “She’d be proud of you.” 

 

Alex cusses quietly when she elicits an audible sniffle. Then she curls into her own side. “The Ambrosia,” she groans. “I need it now.”

 

Kelley scrambles to her back pocket, pulling out two small cubes and placing one of them in Alex’s palm.

 

They take it on the count of three, and Kelley’s cautious to extend a hand to help Alex up.

 

Alex looks at it closely.

 

Then she takes it.

 

+

 

She’s studying the schedule for the next train back when Kelley shifts on her feet impatiently right beside her. 

 

“Dude, maybe we shouldn’t go back yet.” 

 

Alex looks up. “What?” 

 

There’s an embarrassed aura to Kelley’s shrug. “Maybe we shouldn’t go back yet,” she repeats.

 

The look on Alex’s face is blank. “That means…. that means staying here longer. Just the two of us.”

 

If visible discomfort could kill a person, Kelley would drop dead. She looks at Alex with eyes that plead for her to understand. “You earned yourself a break,” she says simply, and Alex nods evenly.

 

“Uh, yeah. Ok.”

 

+

 

They find themselves in the middle of Times Square, peering up at daunting, bright billboards from every direction.

 

They both stand there rather awkwardly, the jumpstart of a conversation not coming well for either of them. 

 

“Weather’s pretty nice today,” Alex says.

 

“Yup,” Kelley pops her lips.

 

And they continue to look around, admiring the scenery until Alex’s neck starts to ache.

 

“This isn’t as pretty as the pictures make it out to be,” Kelley deadpans. Alex’s nose scrunches.

 

“Probably because those pictures are usually taken at night. When all the lights are shining.”

 

Kelley’s shoulders slump in her peripherals. “Right, right. Right.”

 

It’s awkward again for another 30 seconds, until, “Central Park looks really good in the day — “

 

“Yup, yeah, sounds good, let’s go.”

 

+

 

They walk an extra inch apart, so as to not commit an act as scandalous as brushing arms or hands or even knuckles.

 

“This doesn’t have to be weird,” Alex says finally, studying the laces on her shoes. “Like, you know — “ She struggles for the right words. “I don’t want to hate you today.”

 

Kelley stops walking, then, looks slowly up at Alex with her eyes squinted to protect themselves from the sun. “Really?”

 

Alex offers a shrug in substitute for a yes.

 

Kelley nods and outstretches an arm. “Kelley.”

 

Alex’s eyebrows pinch. “Huh?”

 

“ _ Oh,  _ sorry. O’Hara. Kelley O’Hara.”

 

Alex, still confused, keeps her hands reserved at her side, and Kelley rolls her eyes.

 

“If I don’t want to hate you either, then I can’t know about our messed up history.”

 

Alex almost smiles. “Alex Morgan.” She shakes Kelley’s hand, and it’s the first time she’s been in contact with the girl while not trying to hurt or demean her in any way, and it’s really weird, but it’s also really nice.

 

“Strong grip,” Kelley commends, a real smile on her face that causes an unfamiliar comfort in Alex’s chest. “Almost like you’d be hard to take in a fight or something.”

 

+

 

They’re silently slurping on snow cones, legs swinging off the side of the bench they’re perched on when Alex is tired of tiptoeing. 

 

“Why did you want to stay?” 

 

Kelley has to quickly lick some blue syrup from dribbling down the side of the cone. “Huh?”

 

“Why did you want to stay here together instead of going back?” 

 

“We agreed we wouldn’t hate each other today,” Kelley shrugs. 

 

“You suggested it before we agreed,” Alex persists, and Kelley sighs a little louder than she needs to. 

 

“Always holding your ground,” she mutters. “Maybe I didn’t want to go back because hating you gets too tiring sometimes.”

 

Alex’s ears pull back. “What did you say?”

 

“I’m not saying it out loud again,” Kelley banters lightly. “But, yeah, I mean I’m not — I like to  _ think  _ I’m not an inherently bad person,” she admits. “Like, I don’t hate you because I want to. It’s just… the shit with our dads. Kind of fucked with my head, and I was never that good at turning it off so I never did.” She takes a long pause, and Alex’s palms start to sweat because she’s not sure what she’s supposed to say. “If you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll kill you for real during the next Capture the Flag.”

 

The last sentence would’ve sounded like a threat had it not been for the gentle shadow of a smile in Kelley’s voice.

 

“You’re a good person, you know,” Alex reassures simply. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry that we can’t be friends. And that I can’t like you because of.. because of  _ history _ , but… you’re a good person. A really good person.” She sighs. “And if you tell anyone I said  _ that _ , I’ll kill you first.” 

 

Kelley laughs quietly, then she chews on her bottom lip. “You have to know that I respect you, though. I don’t give a shit about what our dads might think about that. I respect the hell out of you.”

 

“You do?”

 

“You’re the bravest person I know to ever step foot on those campgrounds. It kills me to say it, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.” Kelley continues to eat her snow cone, and the air suddenly feels light and heavy all at once.

 

+

 

Kelley O’Hara’s really nice to talk to when she’s not being an asshole. 

 

Alex lets her know. 

 

+

 

“Thanks, Morgan.” 

 

+

 

“It’s kind of a long line to wait in,” Alex’s eyes follow the numerous bodies of tourists that lead to the inside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

 

“We got time to kill,” Kelley says offhandedly, and Alex scrunches her lips together.

 

“Can I tell you something?”

 

“Uh, yeah, shoot.”

 

“I never really got the hype with art,” Alex murmurs, and Kelley shoots her an uneven look. “Like, you’re just — paying money to look at pictures that don’t make sense half the time.”

 

“Well, art isn’t  _ supposed  _ to make sense,” Kelley explains. “It’s supposed to make you feel something, make you second-guess everything you’ve ever known because the rest of the world kinda stops mattering when you’re looking at it. And if you haven’t felt that, dude, then you’ve never looked at real art.”

 

Alex shrugs, still not completely understanding. “Guess I haven’t.”

 

+

 

Kelley’s said something, but Alex can’t hear her over the harsh honks coming from taxi cabs and impatient drivers stuck in traffic.

 

“Sorry, what?” she strains her ears, and Kelley shifts on her feet.

 

“You really think I’m a good person?” she repeats, and Alex’s face is blank before she remembers their conversation from earlier. 

 

“Oh, yeah, I do,” she shrugs, expecting the conversation to come to a cease when Kelley nods.

 

“No one’s ever, like, told me that before. And it’s hard to believe it when I’m at camp putting on a guard and basically hurting people in order to train.” She clears her throat afterwards, as if admitting it made her feel uneasy. “So it was just… weird to hear. Especially from you.”

 

Alex’s stomach sinks a little bit. “Oh.” 

 

“So thanks.” Her voice is gentle, vulnerable. It’s not supposed to settle in Alex’s bones the way it does.

 

She ignores it. “Yeah, of course.”

 

+

 

An hour later they’re at the Egyptian art exhibit, and Kelley’s eyes are on the Temple of Dendur while Alex’s eyes are on her.

 

To paint a clearer picture, Alex’s eyes are on the thin of Kelley’s lips, on the freckles that paint every inch of her face. They’re on the tiny curve of Kelley’s nose and the sharpness of her jaw. And she gets what Kelley meant by what she said when they were waiting in line outside.

 

She’s seen art.

 

+

 

The art she’s seen has ketchup smeared onto her bottom lip from the last bite of her hot dog. It’s swiped clean quickly by her tongue. 

 

“They had napkins,” Alex mutters, and Kelley shoots her an unamused look.

 

“I’m… saving the environment.” It’s meant to act as a statement, but her tone makes it sound like a question. Alex smiles a tiny smile.

 

“Right. Any place else you have in mind to visit?”

 

Kelley sighs loudly. “Well, if we’re gonna be tourists, then we gotta be the best ones. And that’s not gonna happen if we don’t go to the Empire State Building.”

 

Alex nods. “You know, you could’ve just said ‘Empire State Building.’”

 

“Yes, but that’s  _ boring _ . C’mon, before the line gets even longer than it already is.”

 

+

 

It’s still pretty long, and Alex is glad she and Kelley decided not to hate each other today.

 

Because Kelley’s a person she likes waiting in line with.

 

+

 

It’s slightly less gratifying when they make it to the top of the building only to be sandwiched in between countless numbers of other tourists. 

 

“This sucks,” Alex huffs, not caring to lower her voice to any degree. Kelley, who walks a few feet in front of her in search for a vacant spot along the fence, cranes her neck to grin back at her.

 

“Tough-as-nails Alex Morgan can’t handle a rowdy crowd?” 

 

If Alex wasn’t Alex, she’d interpret the edge in Kelley’s voice as playful, but because Alex  _ is  _ Alex, she finds herself getting more annoyed. “The top of the rock climbing wall is more picturesque than what I’m looking at right now.”

 

“You’re a grump,” Kelley says. “No wonder it’s so easy to piss you off all the time.”

 

Alex doesn’t want to ruin all the progress they’ve made today, so her next side comment stays trapped on her tongue.

 

+

 

After what feels like 50 minutes Alex-time and 6 minutes reality-time, the two ladies find themselves side-by-side, peering down at the view that’s Manhattan. The wind blows sharply at their faces, and the makeshift bun Kelley put together earlier is about to unravel itself on her head. 

 

“Worth it?” Kelley asks, and Alex knows she’s referring to what they’re looking at right now, but all she can goddamn think about was the way she looked at Kelley in the museum.

 

And with that in mind, she murmurs back, “Worth it.”

 

+

 

Kelley takes forever at the gift shop.

 

“I’m starving,” Alex whines, and Kelley waves her off, unfazed. “It’s almost dinner time, have you found anything?”

 

“Alex, if I found something, I’d be in line at the cash register paying for it.”

 

Alex’s eyes widen. “You just — um, you — ”

 

_ “What?” _

 

“You’ve never called me Alex before.”

 

Kelley halts digging through the box of trinkets she’s been busying herself with for the past 3 minutes. “Friends call friends by their first name, don’t they?”

 

Alex pretends to pick something up from the ground so Kelley doesn’t see the smile on her face. “Yeah, Kelley, they do.”

 

Kelley isn’t quick enough to hide  _ her _ smile, and Alex catches the way her freckles crinkle together when she does. “Ok, cool, yeah whatever,” she attempts to recover, but Alex doesn’t even notice.

 

They’re friends.

 

+

 

They go Italian for dinner, a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant not too far from the train station.

 

“You could’ve chosen a place with menus I can read,” Kelley observes, her brows knitting together as she struggles to read the appetizers.

 

Alex peers at her from across the table. “The English translations are literally… they’re right there. In smaller letters.” Kelley brings the menu closer to her face. 

 

“ _ Oh,  _ I couldn’t see those. I don’t have my glasses on me.”

 

“You wear glasses?”

 

“Nearsightedness is an epidemic,” Kelley banters, and Alex is embarrassed by how hard she laughs. “When I got glasses in the fourth grade, I wouldn’t wear them for three weeks because a boy told me I looked ugly.”

 

Alex replies with a, “What a dick.” 

 

(Her mind replies with, “He was probably wrong.”)

 

+

 

Kelley nearly chokes on her water when the waiter drops by to place a candle at the center of the table.

 

Alex pretends not to notice.

 

+

 

Kelley slurps her spaghetti a little bit, and sometimes she’s a second too late wiping it off her chin, but it makes Alex laugh.

 

+

 

They walk back to the train station after Kelley convinces Alex they can share a slice of chocolate cake for dessert, and the gap that stood between them in Central Park has dissolved. They don’t say much. Their knuckles brush together every few steps, Alex’s smile is aimed at the ground whenever Kelley cracks a joke, and Alex almost hopes they miss the train back.

 

+

 

They don’t; they’re one of the first people on it, and they slide in seats right next to each other, their shoulders pressed against one another comfortably.

 

“I liked today.” Kelley says shyly. “More than I wish I did.”

 

Alex stares down at her shoes. “Me too.”

 

+

 

They’re packed together in the back of the cab that picks them up, their ankles tangled together uncomfortably.

 

A third passenger slides into the last empty seat at the very last second, and Kelley’s forced to slide her arm through Alex’s and lean against her so the man isn’t directly on top of her.

 

Alex has to crane her neck towards the window so Kelley can’t see her smile when neither of them dare to move.

 

“Hey,” Alex says quietly to avoid the attention of the other passenger and the driver.

 

Kelley sells her struggle to listen a little more than she needs to. “Yeah?” she asks, a subtle strain in her voice in response to the lack of space.

 

“I’m really, really glad we stayed. You know that, right?”

 

Kelley shoots her a tight-lipped smile, and her face almost looks like she’s gonna miss what they became today. “I’m really, really,  _ really _ glad we stayed, too.” 

 

Alex feigns annoyance. “You don’t have to one-up me in everything.” Kelley’s forced to laugh into her shoulder, and her grin feels like sunshine on Alex’s skin. (Well, Alex’s shirt. Which is touching her skin.)

 

“It’s what we do, isn’t it? One-up each other in everything. That’s our thing, Morgan.”

 

“That’s a nicer way of putting ‘want to kill each other every chance we get.’” Alex jokes. Kelley laughs again. 

 

“You know, after today, I might hesitate a little before I do.”

 

“I’m touched.”

 

+

 

They both sit in silence for awhile until Kelley’s the first one to speak up. “You know the second we step out of this car, everything has to go back to how it was.”

 

Alex doesn’t like the way her heart sinks. But she doesn’t like the inevitable truth to Kelley’s words even more. She nods.

 

“I liked liking you.”

 

Alex looks closely at the way Kelley tightly wrings her fingers together. “I liked liking you, too.”

 

+

 

Kelley’s a woman of her word.

 

She steps on the back of Alex’s heels once the cab drops them off at camp.

 

+

 

They don’t so much as say bye to each other when they part ways, Kelley heading straight to her own cabin while Alex finds all her friends lounging in Sydney’s.

 

“You ok, Al? How did it go?” Cheney asks immediately, and Alex tiredly plops down on the one of the chairs in Sydney’s room. 

 

“It was fine, we got the job done,” she shrugs.

 

“How did you deal with Kelley today, was it tough?” Heather asks.

 

Alex sighs loudly. Then she nods. “Even bigger pain in the ass than I thought.”

 

The words feel sour rolling off her tongue because she knows she doesn’t mean it anymore.

 

“Proud of you, Alex,” Allie says, and Alex means to smile but it never finds her face.

 

Her name sounded sweeter when Kelley said it.

**Author's Note:**

> ! so i’m planning for the whole thing to be 3-4 chapters, but it’s still up in the air. and i wish i could give a time frame for the next update but tbh it might not be for months down the line. so sorry in advance bc that wait is gonna be hell-ish.
> 
> thank you to skysplits for looking this over! u ze best
> 
> inquiries: sofiahuertas on tumblr and sofiashuertas on twitter


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